Biometrics are on the rise — and they’re coming to a store, street and office near you. The private sector is funneling billions of dollars into researching and developing facial recognition and analysis technologies that can provide new consumer insights to advertisers and businesses.

A long distance drive can be lonely with only a radio for company, and if the driver is stressed or tired it becomes dangerous. A car that could understand those feelings might prevent an accident, using emotional data to flag warning signs.

Biometrics consists of using a part of you—a fingerprint, handprint, iris scan, voiceprint, even your DNA—to prove your identity. A fingerprint biometric can be used in two-factor authentication to identify you instead of, say, a PIN code. Or it can be required in addition to a PIN code, something known as multi-factor authentication. Security experts agree that having additional "factors" to prove someone's identity increases security.

British market research firm Goode Intelligence predicts in its new report “Mobile Phone Biometric Security – Analysis and Forecasts 2011-2015” that mobile biometric security will be an essential feature on all smart mobile devices.

Perhaps the division in the IT world is not quite that stark, but there is indeed division. Some think it is past time to retire passwords, for what they say is the obvious reason: They don't protect users, since they are so easily hacked. All the talk about making passwords more secure is ignoring the elephant in the room they simply cannot be made secure. Besides, there are other, better, authentication options, like biometrics, since nobody has your fingerprints, eyes and DNA.

Children's Clinics for Rehabilitative Services has rolled out DigitalPersona Pro data protection and access security software and fingerprint readers to prevent unauthorized access to patient records. The systems will be used by medical staff to access the more than 11,700 patient records.